Page 58 of Lawless Rivals

I pull the coat up and around us, draping it over my shoulders and pulling it toward her as I settle in behind, fitting her body into the space between my thighs.

The shirt is beneath us now, a thin layer to buffer the cold seeping up from the earth. I tug her closer, my forearms coming around her stomach, before I sit still.

Fuck, she feels good like this.

Bare skin, wet hair, her ass settled right against my cock with one thin layer of damp cotton in the way. I’m hard inside of a minute, and there’s no hiding it from her.

Her spine presses flush to my chest, and I’m all too aware of every shiver that moves through her, every involuntary reaction she makes as warmth blooms between us.

I shift the coat higher, sealing it around us, my fingers grazing her collarbone. She sucks in a breath that escapes as a little whimper.

“This isn’t okay…” she murmurs, though the bite in her tone has softened.

“It’s fine,” I mumble, my mouth close enough that the words stir the fine hairs at her temple. “No one’s gonna know.”

Another tremor runs through her, stronger than the last, and this time she doesn’t fight it, pressing in deeper to steal the heat she needs.

“Do you hate me that much?” she asks. “That you’d never mention this to anyone?”

“Mention what?” I reply, careful not to give the question any air. “Staying alive?”

I tighten my hold just enough to make the point.

“This is cold-weather survival,” I add. “Skin to skin for body heat. Nothing else.”

The fire throws out warmth, and she holds her hands closer to it, eyes fixed on the flames.

“And saving me back there,” she says, thoughtful, “that was more than a man protecting his leverage.”

She glances over her shoulder, catching my eye. “You called me Keira.”

I look past her gaze and stare at the flames.

“Which means I’m not just his daughter to you,” she goes on. “Not anymore.”

“You’re still a Harrington,” I say, because it’s the only thing I can reach for fast enough.

“Admit it. Go on. Tell me you don’t really hate me.” She maneuvers herself around to face me, the fire roaring at her back as she blinks. “And maybe I’ll forgive you for taking me.”

I look at her mouth, then force my attention back to her pretty eyes, because alone out here, with the trees closing around us and no one to interrupt, hate would be easier than whatever the fuck this is.

Chapter 16

Keira

“You sure you’re feeling alright, Harrington?” He narrows his eyes. “You must’ve hit your head on a rock. Turn around.”

I keep eye contact, understanding this isn’t a man who’d do something he didn’t want to, and so far, since the night we met, Saint’s been like a pair of golden handcuffs.

“Maybe that cold water shocked some sense into you.” I cock my head. “And maybe you’re starting to look at me as a woman instead of my father’s daughter.”

He swallows, the color of his gray-green eyes darkening as his jaw tightens like he’s bitten down on something he doesn’t want to taste. His gaze drags over my face before dropping, just for a second, to my mouth.

In a heartbeat, his hand wraps around my throat.

My breath stutters, pulse fluttering wildly beneath his fingers as his mouth hovers so close I can feel the warmth of it, the faint hitch in his breathing as it mingles with mine.

The space between us shrinks to nothing but chills and heat.